Little Free Libraries

Monday, 17 October 2011

Did you ever read Douglas Adams’ The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul? If you haven’t, don’t bother; it’s barely better than adequate (there’s a reason why Adams is better known for The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). The reason why I bring it up is because there’s a moment in the story when the lead protagonist, Dirk Gently, becomes enthralled with a gadget (sorry, I don’t remember what it was – something unmemorable, evidently) – and I mean completely enthralled. The best line in the book occurs at this point. We read:

He had never before even guessed at the existence of such a thing. And to be able to move from total ignorance of something to total desire for it, and then actually to own the thing all within the space of about 40 seconds was, for Dirk, something of an epiphany.

I had  a similar epiphany today. Well, all except the owning part, which I’ll get to in a minute.

This morning, shortly after arriving at work, I checked on my favorite blogs, including Proper Noun Blog. She mentioned a local phenomena called “Little Free Libraries.” It was there that I was directed to a website about Little Free Libraries. She provided a link, but I was too lazy to click on it (come on, it was Monday morning).

A few minutes later, I received my daily email from AWAD. AWAD has over a million subscribers in tons of countries, so I was a little surprised to see a link to our local Star Tribune about…Little Free Libraries.

“Okay,” I said to myself (but not too loudly), “What’s the big deal here. I guess I HAVE to click on the link and find out.

Turns out, they look freakin’ awesome. Initiated by Stillwater-resident Todd Bol, Little Free Libraries are basically mailboxes on steroids that people install in their front lawns and stock with books. Passersby and other locals then come to the library (the whole ‘if you build it…’ thing) and check out books. They check them out by pretty much just taking them. But – on their honor – they’re expected to replenish the withdrawal with a deposit of their own, or, at the very least return the book when they’re done with it.

LFLs have popped up around the metro area, in other states, and even in Canada. More importantly, have I mentioned that, as of last month, I now have a yard? Yes, it’s true. And I have a corner lot, with a sidewalk wrapping around the west and south sides of my property.About three blocks away are several restaurants, a bank, and some place where people cannibalize Jesus’ body and drink blood, so my street gets a healthy dose of people parking and walking.

I so want a little free library!   My property is perfect for it!

Here’s the official site. As always, the only thing stopping me is money. I’ve considered setting Owen up with a lemonade stand for a few weeks. I was thinking at $50 a glass, we’ll have the money in no time, but I’m not sure how many people will be willing to pay that. So…for now, I don’t have one. But I’m putting a LFL on my wish-list.